About This Class

How to make a traditional and easy apple pie from scratch

In today’s lesson, we shall be baking a traditional English apple pie. Layers of sliced apples in a short crust pastry casing.

Almost any type of apple can be used for this including bottled or tin – just adjust the amount of sugar to suit the tartness of the apple. Sugar wouldn’t have been used in the early days of baking due to its expense but today it’s seen as an important ingredient of the pie.

English apple pie recipes go back to the 14th century, the time of Geoffrey Chaucer and his The Canterbury Tales. One recipe from this time lists the ingredients as,

“ … good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears. The cofyn of the recipe is a casing of pastry …” (Wikipedia)

We can only assume that the ‘Cofyn refers to the external casing – the pastry!

The apple pie was first mentioned as being taken to America by the Pilgrims in the 17th century

In this lesson, you’ll discover how to make the perfect pastry crust for your pie, what apples to use for your filling, and how to prepare the apple pie filling before you bake your traditional apple pie.

Questions answeredDo you cook apples before putting them in a pie?What are the ingredients for an apple pie?What are the best apples to use in an apple pie?What is the best kind of apples for apple pie?How do you make shortcrust pastry?What kind of pastry is used for apple pie?